Speaking in Baltimore on Monday at a fundraiser for Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School, Winfrey told the audience, "I have lots of things, like all these Manolo Blahniks. I have all that and I think it's great. I'm not one of those people like, 'Well, we must renounce ourselves.' No, I have a closet full of shoes and it's a good thing."

Winfrey, 52, who is reportedly worth more than $1 billion, said she doesn't feel guilty about her wealth. "I was coming back from Africa on one of my trips," she said. "I had taken one of my wealthy friends with me. She said, 'Don't you just feel guilty? Don't you just feel terrible?' I said, 'No, I don't. I do not know how me being destitute is going to help them.' Then I said when we got home, 'I'm going home to sleep on my Pratesi sheets right now and I'll feel good about it.' "

Should I feel bad that I didn't even know what Manolo Blahniks were (they're shoes) and that I'd also never heard of Pratesi sheets.

Yeah, but it's even less watcheable on TBS. They cut out the more boisterous dialogue and the nudity, though after seeing Kim Cattrall writhing around on some guy for the umpteenth time, you sort of lose your appetite.

Oh and not to be mean, but Parker shouldn't wear Blahniks - she should be in horse-shoes and a saddle, trotting around a track with a little guy on her back.

I think Joseph Conrad is the only example of a non-native speaker who became a GREAT English writer.

Are you kidding me? Have we forgotten about one V. Nabokov? Who by the way thought (correctly) that Conrad was a terrible writer: "I cannot abide Conrad's souvenir-shop style, bottled ships and shell necklaces of romanticist cliches."

Twice beaten to the Nabokov punch, my $.02 are that he was not only a great writer in both languages, but also a terrific translator. His translation of Lermontov's "Hero of Our Time" is probably the best translation of a Russian work into English that I've seen.

Um, Mike BUSL07? In what universe is calling someone a horse being anything other than intentionally mean? o.O Just curious.

But no, there is absolutely no call to feel bad about not being familiar with absurdly expensive shoes and sheets. Especially if you've never had the misfortune to be subjected to that dreadful show. :)

Yes, you should feel bad that you move in financial circles in which knowledge of hyper-expensive shoes and sheets is not commonplace. Because that feeling will drive you to get a better-paying job, driving the engine of capitalism just a little bit faster, and everybody wins.